Today's Special Election in Ohio (8/8/2023)

I know that they've had huge early voter turnout and the last polling I read put approval for upholding abortion rights at %59.

I think it will hold in Ohio but there's fuckery aplenty out there so who knows?

I don't think Issue 1 will pass.

Also, OP:

I posted this in another thread. I’m working the polls in a Cincinnati suburb. We have had a steady influx of voters all day. Sometimes we have a line.

Out of 2200 registered voters at my location, over 500 have voted today. And we have six hours to go before the polls close.

The Republicans and the outside money ( 80% coming from a man in Indiana) have been running commercials constantly saying that a " No " vote would change the constitution to allow the radicals to introduce materials harmful to children ( drag queens, etc). Of course, the Dem side has not argued that it is for keeping the constitution as it is and it is the " yes" people who want to change it to 60% to pass an amendment, rather than the 50%+1 that it is now. What the Dems also fail to tell the people that the proposal is to mandate that a certain percentage of voters in each county have to pass any amendment, or it stops. This would allow voters in a county where there are 2,000 people to block the will of the city voters. Ohio is in a fight to give more power to the cities, rather than the rural bumpkins to whom the Republicans have given sway. If the city voters had more power, the state legislature would look overwhelmingly blue. It might be close, but I don't think that it will pass. Of course, in the solid blue northeast, there are huge numbers of " NO" yard signs, but they are also big in the red southern area, so there is hope. Early turnout has been very good in the northeast, which, if the bill is rejected, will be the epicenter of the "No" vote.

You think what 'will hold' OP?

And here I thought a yes vote would be in the liberal's favor, making it harder to amend the Constitution to ban abortions.

But R4 explains it makes it EASIER for right-wingers to amend the constitution since it gives country bumpkins more power.

Connie Schultz was on Rachel Maddow last night and she seemed pretty optimistic about the vote today.

Hopefully she’s right and this obvious chicanery by the RWNJs boost her husband’s re-election chances

The Republicans in the State Congress voted a few months ago to ban special August elections; then, facing a crucial abortion rights battle in Sept, which probably will not go in their favor, went back on their own law and called a special election for today. In order to assure that abortion rights would not be placed into the state constitution, they proposed the 60% approval to amend the constitution and the 88 county clause, which means one county could block any amendment, similar to what Tuberville is doing to military promotions. Yes, it is totally about abortion, although they want everyone to think that it's to protect children from radicals.

Voted this morning in my Columbus suburb. We had a lot of "Vote Yes" signs in public spaces about a month ago, then they all disappeared to be replaced by "Vote No" ones. Feeling pretty good that this will be defeated.

Four former governors, two Repub ( Kasich and Taft) and two Dem ( Strickland, Celeste) are against Issue One.

I don’t follow Ohio politics closely but didn’t they recently have a successful referendum using the current rules which the legislature basically ignored and haven’t actually made the change as outlined in the plebiscite?

My sister took my 95 yo dad to early voting on Saturday because he was so adamant to vote no. He hates MAGA. They had lunch at Skyline Chili.

Good for your dad; my dad (who isn't even that old) has a "who the fuck cares, I'm going to be dead soon anyway" so he's very pro-MAGA (though strangely turned against Dump). It makes me sad that this is what Ohio has come to - this is some FL & TX bullshit

[quote]I don’t follow Ohio politics closely but didn’t they recently have a successful referendum using the current rules which the legislature basically ignored and haven’t actually made the change as outlined in the plebiscite?

The court ruled that the gerrymandering of districts was unconstitutional and forced the Republicans to redraw the districts in order to make the electoral map fairer. The Repubs kept submitting maps which were not acceptable to the court, effectively stalling the process until it was too late for last year's election. No one was held in contempt, no changes have been made, with the party of law and order repeatedly defying court orders.

R13, that triggers a memory. Weren’t they supposed to, by referendum, go to a non-political districting system in which the legislature didn’t control the drawing of voting maps?

I feel like this referendum to raise the percentage bar for referendums was a byproduct of that.

Raising the percentage bar for referendums is entirely about abortion and raising that bar to stop what's on the ballot in November. Ohio Republicans know that they have a chance if the bar is at 60% and pretty much no chance if it remains where it is now at 50%.

R15:

Overview.

R12, give your dad a hug from me!

Burbs here again.

My normal election lunch at Gold Star Chili.

We are at 800+ voters out of 2200

[quote] ( 80% coming from a man in Indiana)

I had thought I read that the evil Liz and Dick Uihlein were behind this. And they live in North Shore Chicago and own a couple of whole cities in Wisconsin.

Is there someone in Indiana fucking around in the mix as well?

News report at 5 said that turnout in solid blue Cuyahoga County ( Cleveland) is way up. At the last special election two yrs ago, 10% of eligible voters voted. Right now, with over 2hrs left, 31% have already voted.

R6, you're not dumb! I live in Ohio and had to do quite a bit of due diligence online to grasp Issue 1. There are some spinning plates to it. Alas, much that goes on in Ohio is full of fuckery. R4 has it right: it's a battle between cities and rural areas.

Election Guru Dave Wasserman:

[quote] I've seen enough: in a major victory for the pro-choice side, Ohio Issue 1 (a measure to raise the threshold to pass a state constitutional amendment to 60%) fails.

Suck it, MAGA!!!!

From NYT- with 24% of the vote in, the amendment is failing 69% to 31%. If it continues this way, the Ohio November abortion amendment to restore much of Roe will only need 50% + 1 to pass.

I believe the children are our future....

Wow, great news!

Cincy burbs end of night report - we had 48% voter turnout TODAY. This doesn’t count everyone who voted early.

In my red area, Issue 1 was defeated despite a last minute push to get church goers to the polls and some heavy campaigning.

As an aside, I was at the polls today from 5am -830pm. A fucking long ass day. Thank your local poll worker the next time you vote!

Fantastic news. A blowout win for abortion rights.

And yet another GQP ratfucking attempt fails.

On to November!!

It's called for the NOs. Which is excellent news for Sherrod Brown, one of the country's best senators and one of the most endangered, as next year he'll be up for re-election in an increasingly red state. But this vote makes it clear that the moderates and independents are malleable.

JD Vance, that homophobic piece of republican debris, went all aboard advocating for a yes vote. He lost. Good.

R29, that is amazing turnout! And thanks for being a poll worker. I’ve volunteered a bunch of times (for Dems of course) and it’s a long ass day.

NYT:

39% of the votes in.

Amendment is losing 60% to 40%.

Hope these voters show in November so Ohio’s electoral votes go to Dems.

DEMOCRACY WINS!

Thank you, all Ohio voters, poll workers, those who volunteered and donated!

GO FUCK YOUR COUSINS MAGATS.

November, 2024

The race has been called, it lost big time.

I DEMAND A RECOUNT!

The race has been called, it lost big time.

I’m cautiously optimistic r35. If they came out today, they should come out in November too.

It went down by 68%

Yaaaaaa

Only 50% are needed in November.

Now if only Trump were indicted tomorrow, this would be a really fucking awesome week.

Great news, OP! Thank you for keeping us up to date.

Great news, OP! Thank you for keeping us up to date.

Kari Lake is screaming that the vote was rigged.

Never stop being you, Kari

Okay, fellow-DLers, help with this seemingly illogical conundrum:

Issue 1 would have required a 60% majority vote in order to amend the State’s constitution, BUT this Issue would have gone into effect if only 50.00001% had voted “Yes”.

As a matter of logic, proprietary, and fairness, shouldn’t Issue 1 itself have required a 60% majority vote in order to pass instead of the 50% + 1 number of votes?

Here is the county by county tally. As is apparent, the small, rural Trump counties ( the ones with too much power) voted for Issue One, whereas the cities ( Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Franklin ( Columbus), and even red Hamilton ( Cincinnati), voted overwhelmingly " No."

[quote]As a matter of logic, proprietary, and fairness, shouldn’t Issue 1 itself have required a 60% majority vote in order to pass instead of the 50% + 1 number of votes?

No, it goes by the existing law at the time of the election.

^ sorry, I'm very happy.

R49 misses THE POINT entirely.

R47 and r51, current law requires 50 percent to amend the constitution. In November, on the ballot will be a law codifying Roe vs. Wade, I.e., giving women back their reproductive rights that were taken away by a previous Ohio law. So Republicans, dummies that they are, tried to push an amendment (Issue 1) that would require 60 percent instead of 50 percent in the future, making it much harder to codify women’s rights in November. Got it? Not sure what you’re bellyaching about.

One of the delicious aspects of this is that Frank LaRose, Secretary of State and the person most likely to run against Sherrod Brown next yr., was one of the masterminds behind this special election.

The Nov ballot will most likely feature another proposal to legalize recreational marijuana, which will bring out the young and urban voters in droves. They will vote to codify abortion rights in the constitution.

R51 As I understood it, R49 points out that the "original point" was moot.

Re: R21

Oh, don’t worry! I’m sure the scheming thugs will find some other way to subvert the will of the voters with more bullshit

I used to be against the concept of ballot measures. Let the state legislatures do their job, I would say.

How very, very wrong I was. In the face of anti democratic gerrymandering, this form of direct democracy is a godsend to states who have it.

I still think there are way too many ballot measures here in California, but I'd rather have them than not.

I'm proud of you, Ohio.

They will bring back the issue, since they were embarrassed. But, before that will try to use the bumpkins in the legislature to thwart the will of the people.

[quote]“I think you’ll probably see the question coming back,” he said, although he later noted it might not be this year. Huffman was quick to spread blame around for the failure. He said “vociferous” vocal opposition from ex-GOP Govs. John Kasich and Bob Taft, along with former Republican Attorney General Betty Montgomery proved damaging. He said the campaign didn’t have enough time to put together a sufficient case, even though state lawmakers selected the Aug. 8 election date.

[quote]However, he expected conservatives will “come home” in November and reject the proposed marijuana and abortion ballot issues.

Bullshit on the predictions for the November election at r60.

And they purposely picked August because they were counting on low voter turnout. This is going to hurt the GOP is a major way.

They'll just get stomped harder, then.

If the churches and yokels don't want abortions or MJ, they they shouldn't get abortions or smoke up.

That >30% of the state shouldn't get to the <30% they don't get to have access to abortion or MJ.

Sorry, I flipped the less than and greater than signs in R62. I'm dyslexic not GOP.

R49 / R52. I completely understand the issues and the “rules” that you keep repeating. My point is that allowing a Simple Majority (50%) to be able to impose a Super Majority (60%) requirement on the entire population is illogical; that’s all.

Do you think any of this is penetrating the neo-nazis and fascists who currently run the Republican Party? Or will they continue to back losers like Trump and DeSanctimonious to satisfy their dictatorial urges and grim determination to end democracy in not only Ohio but the rest of the USA?

It will have no effect, since the Republicans have repeatedly demonstrated that the will of the people is irrelevant if it conflicts with their selfish and traitorous desires.

They will double down on fascist policies, stick with the guy who is going to jail for hundreds of years for espionage and treason, and continue to attempt to subvert the will of the majority.

To their party's peril, IMO.

Trump really does destroy everything he gets near, r67

R64, a “simple majority” is democracy. And no one is imposing their views. As someone upthread said, if you oppose MJ and abortions, don’t have one! It’s like gay marriage. If you oppose gay marriage, don’t get gay married! There is no difference between 50 and 60 percent (both are majorities) but 60 percent just makes it harder to get anything done.

The Ohio Constitution already has the 50% +1 majority rule. It’s been that way since 1912.

It was fine until the thugs decided they were going to push the MAJORITY to the side and double down on the Bible beating fuckwits and inbreds.

The MAJORITY of people in Ohio are fed up with their bullshit. We passed the end gerrymandering law that the legislature STILL REFUSES TO OBEY.

Now that we’re poised to protect women’s health and legalize de debil’s herb, the GQP terrorist thugs want to take ALL of our options away to keep them in line. This was a kick in the cuntbone to these assholes. The first of many since they think they have absolute power.

Fuck the terrorist GQP with a chainsaw

Great, now you need to stop voting for Republicans, they're only going to get worse and double down on this kind of shit. It blows my mind that in red states and purple states, issues like abortion rights, raising the minimum wage, legalization of cannabis, Medicare/Medicaid expansion is popular with the majority, yet they keep electing Republicans WHO OPPOSE ALL OF THAT. Smarten up, people. You may not 'like' the Democrat, but you have to look at the policies they are for.

[quote]There is no difference between 50 and 60 percent (both are majorities)

R69 is a hopeless cause (and probably a GQPer).

Fuck you r72. Asshole. What an easy way out, accusing someone of being a GQP’er. Did you even read my post? What in it told you I’m a GQP’er? My defense of abortion rights? Or my defense of gay marriage? Or did you skip a bunch of words? The whole argument about this amendment is the Ohio GOP inflicting their will on the majority.

You have no fucking clue. Why don’t you read r71 and get an inkling of what’s going on.

If we want to get rid of gerrymandering, we need the Superminority in the Senate and a majority in the House.

If we want to get rid of the Electoral College, we need the Supermajority in the Senate and a majority in the House.

If we want two more Democratic Senators and make DC a State, we need the Supermajority in the Senate and a majority in the House.

Superminority= supermajority in paragraph 1.

Auto correct ughhhhh

R71 here again. One other thing--quit voting a split ticket, it is an antiquated notion that we should have divided government. If you want to see results, you need to vote a straight party vote ticket. I really don't get the people that did that in 2022, I don't care if you're voting for county commissioner, every last one of the GQP mother fuckers needed to be fired for supporting Trump (whether it was full throated or in a milquetoast way). Like why reward someone like Susan Collins for being a Trump enabler but you also voted for Biden. I don't get it, maybe most people are stupid.

My point is, Republicans have known that our battle is all about the Supermajority in the Senate. The last time we had it, we passed Obamacare. Then Republicans spent 12 years bitchin about it.

R74 It will never happen, but a few tweaks to our constitution would go a long way to resolving the current illness in the Public Sphere and danger in our projected political future.

Constitutional Amendments:

Amendment 27: A clear process (national commission, guidelines) to set districts - even state legislature. Demographics and geography and common concerns, not party registrations. No political party should control nor be rewarded by redistricting.

Amendment 28: Term limits on judges, the Supreme Court. Expand the number of justices. Firm guidelines on the process of replacing justices - not up to congressional political leadership.

Amendment 29: Eliminate the electoral college.

Dems 2024 -general election- need to run on

Abortion

Guns

climate change

personal freedoms (just don't frame it as solely lgbt)

these are enough to win the very slim margins in the Nov. 2024 swing states elections. Then we can expand scotus as well as other much needed lege

Sherrod Brown needs to win in 2024. I hope these issues can help to get him re-elected. I was amazed that Ohio elected obvious carpetbagger JD Vance in 2022.

R79 Yes, but with this addition:

Likely voters almost always list "the economy" as their number one priority. Biden/Dems have to point out that Dems have historically, and certainly NOW. been the most effective at making the economy work best for the greatest majority.

R72 - Back atcha! You obviously didn't actually read my posts, and if you did then you get an "F" in both Reading Comprehension AND Basic Logic.

Given your overall inability to take in information and actually process it leads us to believe that you are DEFINITELY a GQPer.

50 percent is a majority?

How does the 50 percent minority feel about that?

R83 My concern is more what do the voters in the 2020 and 2016 elections, those who polled millions more than the candidates whom the electoral college chose, how do they "feel"???

R82 blocked for being Defacto in disguise. Not such a great disguise asshole.

R12 I hope your dad was rewarded with a trip to Graeter's after eating at Skyline. Good for him!

Republicans pointing fingers, looking for scapegoats.

They’re all a bunch of lying, sneaking scumbag thugs!